The invention relates to stripping baskets for use during fishing, e.g. during fly fishing, to hold loose coils of line stripped from the reel during retrieval and casting.
In fly fishing, line is also stripped from the reel for casting, and then retrieved. Between casts, the line is typically permitted to lay on the water about the fisherman. This procedure often proves unsatisfactory, e g., during salt water fly fishing, where longer casts may be required, resulting in more line to be handled. The greater length of line stripped from the reel, in combination with the movement of the water, e.g. due to wave action or water flow, can result in an unacceptable level of tangles, snarls and other problems.
Also, the maximum possible length of cast is reduced by the effects of friction acting on the line as it is pulled from the surface of the water during the cast.
In order to overcome these recognized problems, it has been known for fly fisherman to attach an open container or basket at his waist for receiving the line as it is stripped or retrieved. These containers or baskets have taken the form of dish drainers, or dish pans with outdoor carpeting covering the bottom surface. However, fishermen using these containers continued to have the problem of snarls as the loops of line collected in the container shift about and become entangled, e.g. as described in Normann U.S. Pat. No. 4,297,802 at column 1, lines 23-26.
Another prior art stripping basket has firm but flexible, generally upright fingers of monofilament, typically about 2-3 inches long, inserted into the bottom of a plastic tub, and again, the line occasionally became snagged on the fingers, shortening the cast.